Details on new Kit Kat features are scarce (read: unavailable), but Google does say that their goal with Android 4.4 is to “make an amazing Android experience available for everybody.” Ready to speculate on what that means?

Also, this new Android version page includes this sweet Kit Kat themed wallpaper:

“Android experience available for everybody” could mean adapting Modaco.Switch concept.

KG

Just celebrated by dropping a cool $1.25 for a kitkat bar from the vending machine!

Dan Letsch

I did the same thing, kit kat is not even my favorite, but had to go buy one, however mine was only $.75

http://html5boilerplate.tumblr.com/ Mattias Hagberg

I bought a 10-pack last week for $4.39, seems like I got a great deal.

RaptorOO7

WTF, where the hell is the next BIG THING?

The Phenom

Go ask Samsung that is thier catchphrase.

MindFever

Bang Bros flick?

Guest

Sounds to me like legal issues…or at least like royalty payments are going to be in order! Google does know that “Kit Kat” is a name brand and already owned right?…I’m just saying…

acras

How on earth would Google POSSIBLY know about “Kit Kat” being owned by Nestle ? The concept of trademark and product ownership is far to vast for such a small company such as Google to be able to understand , much less research .

The Phenom

Did you not read the article they are partnering with Kit Kat for this.

googlyeyedfrog

so how much money do you think Hershey/Nestle offered Google for this?

The Phenom

Lots

ReeceDevonport

None actually

http://www.gorecording.com/ Nicholassss

Its pretty solid for both of them, with no royalties involved. they’re bot promoting eachother with this.

http://www.hypable.com/ Joshua Nealey

Curious why they would even do this, seemed like a joke when I first saw the image.

Inquizitor

This is unimaginably horrible. Everything about this news is just horrible.

The Phenom

Why is it horrible?

Inquizitor

Kit Kat. 4.4. This is going to be some dumb marketing tactic that won’t work, won’t improve anything, and will just waste all our time. Google needs to focus on actually making what it’s already done succeed, and focus on HELPFUL parterships with companies. Apple is partnering with BMW and other car makers to put iOS in their damn cars, and is surprisingly adding a ton of content to Apple TV. Google is prancing around with a candy company and stopping developers from opening up Chromecast’s functionality. It’s pathetic.

The Phenom

I disagree. Every major update is named after food/candy of some sort. Even if it is a minor update it builds towards the future. I can see them trying to extend out to other companies with partnerships as well but for end users being able to get a update without waiting on a OEM or carrier to approve it makes me happy to see this.

Inquizitor

There’s been no confirmation that will happen, people are just making all these guesses based on one very vague sentence. This update won’t be any more significant than 4.1 jelly bean, which just introduced Google Now and Project Butter (before 4.2 killed the latter).

The Phenom

Time will tell.

Justtyn Hutcheson

#1, How did 4.2 kill Project Butter? All of my devices run better with 4.2 than 4.1 (and better still with 4.3).
#2, It would seem that Google has moved to x.0 updates being major overhauls of both the underlying code and the UI/UX. That does not mean that 4.4 will not have awesome new features. Recall also that Google no longer needs an OS update to add features, they just need to update their apps. So, while I can see being a bit jaded over a 4.x update, claiming that it won’t be significant without having any information on it is being a bit overly dramatic in my opinion.

Regarding partnerships, it looks like they did this for fun. Android doesn’t need a partnership to be compatible with your car’s stereo, because it adds nothing. I would much rather they expand the voice action capability and that vehicle bluetooth systems act as a simple pass-through microphone and remote trigger like a bluetooth headset than have to fiddle with some app on my car that gets wonky. I have enough of that on my phones and tablets, the last thing I need is for my car radio to randomly quit an app at the worst possible moment.

Jared

I’m sorry but this is awful. Why oh why is Google doing this? Completely cheapens their product (and they were already battling this image). I hate it.

Guest

…

Jeremy Turnley

I’ll speculate: it means another minor incremental update that 99% of people won’t even notice the differences in.

Tim242

You can’t completely overhaul an OS in every update. Learn to enjoy what you have and stop obsessing over updates. GASP!!

Jeremy Turnley

The last overhaul was two years ago, so I don’t think it’s obsessive to ask for something more than a new camera app and some lock screen widgets at this point.

Tim242

What would you like to see? Most changes come in through Google Services. The UI would be about all theycould overhaul. You ccan’t expect a new OS look too often. They are trying to unify the OS, not further fragment it.

Josh Fischer

It makes sense now that they can provide the majority of their updates via the app store by updating the Google Services. This allows all phones to assimilate to a unified OS and still allows them to continue to add additional features. The UI is getting more refined now that their design elements have been standardized. There isn’t a whole lot that needs to be changed in the base of the OS. Just bug fixing and then keep moving the features and app software forward.

BTW, if they completely changed everything, people would complain that they ruined the experience. Change for the sake of change isn’t always good, just ask Microsoft and look at Windows 8, Vista, ME…

BRNSMRF

Yup I’m hungry

Stewie

I believe this goes in line with what some are saying about Googles new approach to updates and “fragmentation”.

Take most of the apps out of the OS,leaving Google play services, which can be updated on all phones immediately, with no carrier control or hassle.

Now you can release updates on the whole to the OS, but what’s there is bug fixes across the board for differing hardware,,etc. The “Experience” is already the same across the board (for the most part) because those apps can all be changed outside the OS.

We’ll see some interim under the hood tweaks and optimizations with 4.4, but nothing major. Will we see another major UI facelift in 5.0? Good question, but one to ask is “Do we need a new UI at this point?”

We’ve been guilty of expecting a change every time a new version comes out, but by going the route above, we’ll all get the experience, but the so called major update may have gone bye bye …. Just an opinion, either way exciting times ahead eh?

I wonder how this will be presented world-wide. Hershey owns the license to produce Kit Kat solely in the United States whereas Nestle owns the rights for the rest of the world. Curious if Google is only partnering with Hershey in the States for this promo.

http://turbofool.com Jarrett Lennon Kaufman

For this specific promo, I’m sure. For the naming rights, I’m sure they secured that worldwide first.

BrianLipp

“make an amazing Android experience available for everybody.”

my speculation? Google is going to grow some balls and start forcing OEMs/carriers to get updates out faster. One can dream, right?

Raven

Nope, Google is just going around them and having most of the important stuff update automatically via Google Services Framework.

BrianLipp

theyve been doing that for i think at least a year now. But theres still some stuff they cant push through the Store like that.

Justtyn Hutcheson

My bet is on 4.4 allowing Google and OEMs to push system-level updates in the background. Remember, the only thing that requires a carrier to approve an update is a change that affects the radio in some way. You could remotely update any system app, or even the kernel, if you had a secure method of doing so, even without carrier intervention. If a carrier complains, you just need to prove that there is no change to radio performance.

Google has slowly and quietly made an end-run around both their OEM partners and the carriers with respect to OS updates. Now it is time to bring the OEMs into the circle, and allow them to push their own system app updates. The amount of freedom that would present to the OEM is incredible. Fixing security exploits, tweaks to their value-add features. Hell, you could technically update the entire framework.apk remotely to bring every Android device up to the same API level.

BrianLipp

plus, its not all going to all be through GSF since they are announcing this as a new version of Android.

http://turbofool.com Jarrett Lennon Kaufman

And how, exactly, would they do that?

BrianLipp

the same way Apple does it?

http://turbofool.com Jarrett Lennon Kaufman

By only manufacturing their own hardware from now on and no longer allowing any third-parties to make any Android phones, thereby having a full monopoly on the OS and being able to dictate every detail of how it functions, while simultaneously gaining the massive cult-like following of Apple that allows them to tell the carriers that if they want to sell the hot thing their fanatical followers want, they’d better step in line?

BrianLipp

how about putting some pressure on them so theyre “encouraged” to release updates faster to give their customers a better experience, instead of everyone having to wish and hope that a certain device gets updated

http://turbofool.com Jarrett Lennon Kaufman

What sort of pressure, exactly? How do you recommend Google manage to successfully pressure the manufacturers who use their open source OS to continue to support products that they’ve already stopped selling in most cases? Give me some specific ideas, not the general, “Google really needs to do something about this” that I normally hear.

Because right now we have this very basic scenario:

OEM A releases phone X with the latest version of Android. OEM A continues to release updates to Android for as long as releasing them ensures further sales of the product. Product finally gets replaced with Phone Y, with Phone X EOLed. OEM A has no further financial incentive to develop new Android releases for Phone X as it’s no longer being sold.

HOW does Google “pressure” the manufacturers to spend money that they’ll get no return on?

Dan Letsch

I also don’t understand why everybody feels they are entitled to a new os for as long as they own a device. Security updates, sure I get that.
I just wish that once a phone is no longer getting updates that the bootloader should be able to be unlocked, then if you care about having the latest os and don’t want to pony up for a new phone, go for it.
I knew going in on the GNEX that I would need to use a custom rom if I wanted the latest greatest. Most people could not care less about what version of Android is on their phone, and have no clue anyways.

http://turbofool.com Jarrett Lennon Kaufman

I’m not sure I agree fully with your first point, although I do agree that the complexities of it make it very difficult for the manufacturers to pull it off. But I’m with you on the rest. I think manufacturers, once they EOL a phone, should unlock the bootloader and release the source code for their chipsets and let us do what we wish with the phone.

Josh Fischer

You do realize that the GNEX (besides Verizon) still receives updates to the latest and greatest directly from Google, right?

JediPirateNinja

Right now, we’re not even getting your very basic scenario. Plenty of phones get sold for six months at the top of the game, with a few very incremental bug fixes, and then almost nothing.

IMO, Google needs a way of ensuring that a phone gets supported through the end of a 2-year contract, from the last date the phone was sold. After that, support can end as the phone is EOL.

Tim242

+1 for the longest, most spot-on question ever

xpyroxcorex

PC interface?!?!?!?!!? That’d be cool

Godzilla

I just had it explained to me. I mentioned an article that came out yesterday. Basically google is bypassing OEM’s and carriers like verizon by updating software via google play services. This makes it possible to introduce new features like google now via a simple update to google search via the play store.

See what im saying here? These updates are being done via the framework of core android, not via major OS updates.

These incremental updates are here to stay from what i understand.

Here is the article. Kellex you might want to post something about this.

theyve been doing this for a while, with the announcements at this years I/O being the biggest push on it. Theyve also been doing this for a long time with their GApps. Pretty much every core Google app is available through the Play Store and updates arent linked to android versions anymore. The only app i can think of not on the Play Store is the camera/gallery.

Godzilla

true, but now they are taking things up a notch and declaring war on fragmentation.

BrianLipp

by announcing a new version of android? Yes, of course they will continue to push updates through GSF for everyone, but seeing as how this is a new version of android, it has to be doing something special on its own

Stewie

Yes and no, hence my comment above. They’ve been doing this, but our community as a whole still expected at I/O to be blown away by some major changes that really may not be coming, at least in this iteration.

We as a community, may have to change our minds as to what to expect with each new update, and will likely enjoy more updates to the apps outside the OS more than the once a year blown away OS change.

It’s all good, now when do those branded kit kats hit wal-mart? I’d love a nexus 7, even though it’s not likely to be the new one not yet released.

Ian

Bionic,
DL already posted about this, back around the I/O time frame, when it was announced.

Godzilla

true, but i dont think any of us truly understood at the time what it meant.

duke69111

The article is actually a very good read. It explains it well.

Godzilla

Right? I am excited about this new approach.

http://www.youtube.com/lordstickmax LordStickMax

lol, now google is cross marketing candy products! smart and sad at the same time! damn im hungry now

Corey Foltman

There’s no way they are going to have it available for early android Devices…right? OG Droid getting an OTA update to KitKat? That’d be ridiculous.

Ian

dafuq?

Corey Foltman

“make an amazing Android experience available for everybody.”

Ian

But what about iOS users? How will they get an amazing Android experience?

Corey Foltman

Touche… Perhaps have iOS and Android GAPPS to look the same and all Google Apps available on iOS…

Stewie

iOS users will never have an amazing Android experience, it requires leaving the cult, though there are numerous exceptions.

I guess I’m wondering what the makers of Kit Kat get out of this deal.

socarwolverine

Every android review becomes a shoutout to the candy.

The Phenom

Lots of cash.

Stewie

My only thing is that one doesnt normally think of kit kat as a “dessert”, a candy bar is just that, typically a snack, it can be a dessert, just not what comes to mind immediately.

That plus agreement here on Branded sweets.

BrianBrick

Perhaps this was chosen over KLP to suggest modularity since they are moving more.and more system apps to the play store and want to emphasize that

Kenny Strawn

“It’s our goal with Android KitKat to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody.”

Just like Matias Duarte’s second (“Simplify My Life”) goal during the ICS press release (and Duarte’s claim that with ICS they were really only able to work on the “Enchant Me” goal). Interesting…

CoryWorthen

I’m pretty sure KitKat is protected by copyright…

Kenny Strawn

Read the whole post. Google got permission from Nestle to use the brand, and is working closely with them…

CoryWorthen

Oh ok, well I must be reading a different post because I didn’t see that. Thanks for the info!

BrianRoskamp

That’s why it’s a cross promotion with Nestle

Ian

Trademark actually. I’m also pretty sure you can ask permission to use someone else’s trademark…

Franklin Ramsey

And I’m pretty sure they did, since Kit Kat is running a promotion with them starting September 6th.

Shane Redman

Wondering if there will be any UI enhancements or more under the hood stuff like 4.3. Given they’re moving away from Jelly Bean, there’s got to be some card type UI overhaul there right?

joejoe5709

A name change regardless of number change usually brings some pretty major changes. I’m betting yes. I think this will be the missing link between Jelly Bean and the next major overhaul. With iOS7 getting an update that looks eerily similar to ICS/JB I think Google will start moving away from that design and make Apple look outdated all over again.

Niko Lowry

I’m so confused. I thought it was well documented that the next release was going to be a major one going to “version 5″(regardless of key lime pie/kit katt). An incremental “.1″ update can’t bring that stark of a change, can it?

Bob G

Well documented by who? Rumors and speculations fueled reports?

Niko Lowry

Dude you’re on droid-life.com, if you’re a daily reader you can’t deny throughout the past months Google reps and OEMs have commented on the next version being “Key Lime Pie”, which was known to mean Android 5.0.

You might be the only person that isn’t surprised that they are going to announce an incremental update, everybody expected 5.0.

BBC even did a write up today how Google internally started using the codename to throw anyone off.

Kenny Strawn

Actually it can, and it did. Several times in fact. 4.1 unveiled Google Now and Project Butter (among other things). 2.2 and 2.3 also unveiled the first Android favorites tray and VoIP support, respectively, among a boatload of other improvements. So, 4.4 shouldn’t be an exception either. Expect at least the same amount of changes that were present in 4.1, if not more, and let’s not also forget that there will likely be a new Nexus smartphone unveiled along with it.

joejoe5709

Jelly Bean is probably the best example of that. It brought lots and lots of changes. Every update since then has been fairly minor. Name changes more than a number change usually indicate major updates.

Smeckle

A KLP statue would have looked weird anyway.
Probably not as weird as DL’s image of a jellybean Andy lying down on a sofa.

evan brown

4 bars=4 carriers

Ravi Rao

T-Mobile, AT&T, US Cellular, Sprint (no Verizon)?

BrianRoskamp

4 bars = Android 4.4

imnotmikal

Or, you know, 4 bars = how many bars are actually in a Kit Kat.

evan brown

I realize, just a thought that it might have been chosen on purpose

Brandon Golway

Wow, totally didn’t see this one coming! Looks like we were all wrong.

Guillaume

well technically we were all right until they changed their mind at the last minute

Brandon Golway

I don’t think they ever officially announced that it was going to be called Android 5.0/Key Lime Pie, it was just pure speculation from everyone IIRC

Guillaume

Yes they did. Check the BBC article

Godzilla

There was an article yesterday about how google is going to many more incremental updates in order to make it easier. Ok great, but with so many incremental updates google is going to need never before seen coperation from OEM’s and carriers to get these updates out in a timely manner.

I am concerned.

Ian

Do you think the Bionic will see the update?

Godzilla

nah, LOL

Shane Redman

Will kit kat sell this as an actual bar?

nerd

yes they said they would

Brandon Golway

That would be so damn awesome.

jscofi

they have specially marked bars where you can win a nexus 7

aQuickBit

I would be fine with just winning another bag of Kit Kats

The Phenom

I can see the release of a Kit Kat Android Bar as a tie in to the next launch.

Al-Burrit0

Looks good! Damn I’m hungry right now lol

Razma

I knew it! Who originally came up with Key Lime Pie?? First thing I thought of when coming up with a treat that starts with K was Kit Kat

Alan Paone

I’m guessing it’ll be better performance on low-end and midrange devices. Hopefully its kernel 3.7 at least because that’ll make updates a whole lot smoother (3.7 lets the same code run on different chips like it works on x86). “Accessable” has a lot of connotations

MichaelFranz

i like kitkats better the key lime pie anyway….more appealing

jh123416

MY BODY IS READY

Jon

Xiaomi must have bribed Hugo with Key Lime Pies

ddevito

HALLOWEEN!!

It will launch on Halloween

mec

honestly, you may be making a joke… but the cross branding with kit-kat, and the giving away of nexus devices… one stands to reason that the distribution of kit-kats to random neighborhood kids will likely put a nexus device in the hands of a household that might use ipads… and not just in the hands of people who like android or buy kit-kats.

Tony Kuligowski

sweet?? looks like android shaped poo. I’m guessing this is going to be another minor update like JB was and we’ll still be running basically ICS for the next year again.

StuckOnVerizonForever

Obvious troll is obvious

StuckOnVerizonForever

I wonder what they can do that’s new. Something that looks like all their updated apps?

Shamu

Google Describes KitKat as: “It’s our goal with Android KitKat to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody.”

Sounds good to me!!!

Tristan

My guess is that it’s going to optimized for lower power/cost phones. So, it’ll run well with less memory and on slower processors, etc. Which might mean that some of those phones stuck on 2.something can see an upgrade (at least if they’re rooted).

It might also improve performance on higher end phones too, if the OS doesn’t need as much memory, or if [/crosses fingers] it helps with battery life too.

Shamu

thats a reasonable assumption…Google did a lot of awesome with only a .1 release with jellybean 4.1, crossing fingers for some more magic!

Ian

So I can have a kitkat background without actually running kitkat, why would I want that again?

Side note: this is probably good for VZW customers considering how long it will be till we actually see 4.4.

n900mixalot

I don’t WANT 4.4 if it’s called Kit Kat.

Kit Kat, stay the ___ back! Jack!

zepfloyd

“make an amazing Android experience available for everybody.”

..finally a way around carriers?!?

duke69111

A new nexus on Verizon… /s

Michael

S/O to you for being a Wichita State fan

duke69111

Go Shox!

Ryan Stewart

Now we need to get K-State back into the mix so we can have 3 teams in the big dance (KU fan here).

I love it when Kansas has more teams dancing than NC, NY, CA, etc.

The Phenom

K-State couldn’t even beat North Dakota last weekend.

Ryan Stewart

Sadly their basketball team might be even worse with Bruce at the helm. He only looked good with Bill Self’s leftovers.

duke69111

Yea, that was bad. But, NDSU was a good team.

NexusPhan69

OS updates delivered as a download from the play store that are updated independently of the skin. I wish that were possible. I doubt it tho. Maybe a whole new requirement for how OEMs apply their skins. Hey, I can dream.
Edit: Actually why not? Launchers work that way. Holy crap I hope this happens. I’ve just made myself so excited with something that probably isn’t possible and will never happen.

Your picture didn’t load the first time I saw the post. I read the … as disappointment. It has since loaded and is an excellent addition.

Raj Bhatt

Well I tried to just do the picture but the comment can’t be blank. I had no words to add to your reference.

NexusPhan69

No words needed when Dr. Ian Malcolm is involved.

majesty

EXACTLY what I was thinking lmao

CasperTFG

“If I may… Um, I’ll tell you the problem with the scientific power that
you’re using here, it didn’t require any discipline to attain it. You
read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn’t earn
the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for
it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as
fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented
it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox,..” great line

Holy crap that’s creepy and totally awesome. Maybe I was not as far out in left field as I initially thought.

Trueblue711

Exactly. Google can make it possible to update core operating system components that are independent of those that are required for cellular network communication, which is what the carriers care about.

It’s probably something they’re slowly working on, like how they separated the Gapps suite from the OS.

Franklin Ramsey

I don’t see how this would be out of the scope of what is possible. Computers running OSX or Windows don’t require a carrier to update their OS or software running on their OS. I realize they aren’t technically the same thing, but a mobile phone is technically a computer, hence, I can see it as a natural progression for this to occur.

NexusPhan69

There has to be a way to update the background OS while leaving the OEM skin on top still 100% functioning without the need for the skin to update. That, I think, is a massive (and maybe impossible) challenge.

Franklin Ramsey

Or think of it this way, If the OS breaks a piece of the OEM’s skin with an update using the Google Play Services Framework, they could also push out the OEM’s fix all without having to notify a user. This would not only force the OEM’s to get on board, but force them to update their software or risk having people calling in complaining about errors on their phones.

Or that people within Google just like Kit Kats, and who can blame them?

http://igg.me/at/pushpullcardio/x/3911135 PPC

Doubt it, everything will be just as fragmented as ever. Google needs to start playing hardball and make OEMs just focus on hardware and let them control the OS. Dump all these skins and buggy overlays. They are letting OEMs destroy there OS by putting all this crap on top of it. Most people can’t differentiate what Google has done and what OEMs has done, they just see a crappy system and blame Android and bail on it.

what Tiffany
answered I cannot believe that a single mom able to make $8778 in one month
on the computer. did you see this web link http://www.works77.cℴℳ

Buur

That android looks delicious.

Derek L.

I’m confused and excited about this partnership. Google and KK will be advertising the heck out of 4.4 (presumably), and the illiterate consumers may actually gather there’s a new Android OS update in 4.4.

What I mean is that so many more people (not saying all) know that their iPhone is running iOS 6 or they’re getting iOS 7. I’m hopeful the same will occur after all of the advertising for 4.4/KK takes place.

Wil Payne

That could backfire because 4S, 5, and 5S customers will all get the update at the same time, while people using a Samsung Galaxy S3 Epic 4G LTE WiMAX Touch Slider from Sprint and Virgin Mobile may never see 4.4. They might get mad at Google.

Justin W

That makes me wonder if they aren’t planning to update it somehow through Google Play Services. Maybe that’s what 4.4 will bring – the ability to update the core OS through Play Services?

NexusMan

I heard, that with Kit Kat, Google will somehow get rid of the requirements for “higher end specs,” to run the software, enabling virtually all Android phones, tablets, and yes WATCHES to run the latest version of Android, effectively eliminating so called fragmentation. That’s what Google meant when they said their goal with Android 4.4 is to “make an amazing Android experience available for everybody.”

zurginator

The problem has never been the specs – it’s been the carriers, and to a lesser degree, the manufacturers.

mec

because they’re giving away devices in kit-kat wrappers. around halloween. every kid has got the potential to get a free tablet in their loot. if thats not free hype, i dont know what is.

umbrellacorp

Just like Charlie Bucket!

Brady Wassam

Android 5.0 Lindor Truffle!

Kevin

i vote ferrero rocher

Ian

Here’s to hoping you are not serious and actually understand how this works.

Kevin

fine – lasagna!

Ian

leopard print lollypops

umbrellacorp

I’d rock some Android Lasagna.

Brandon Golway

Probably going to be Licorice :-/

joejoe5709

Could be anything, really… especially now that we know they’re not beyond trademarks. Lemon anything, Lollipop, etc.

For the trademark example: Lemonheads!

IIIT3III

Lifesaver

Jeremy Sheehan

Yum! I’m all for that!

Guest

Lemonheads!

Ray Gray

So tasty

Larry Wei

give me a break

NexusPhan69

It’s already old.

tony

Nope. It’s not. Break me off a piece of that KitKat bar!!!

Marcos

‘gimmie a break, gimmie a break of that.. fancy feast…no that’s not it”-Andy

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